Singapore’s Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21)

Singapore introduced the Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21) in 2009 as a framework to propose a set of 21st century competencies that Singaporean teachers should be equipped with. The introduction of TE21 catalyzed the reform of existing programs and the implementation of new initiatives in initial teacher preparation programs and lifelong teacher professional development. This chapter first examines the local and international driving forces that led to the conceptualization of TE21 since Singapore’s independence. Then, the recommendations of TE21 are scrutinized along with the implementation of two new initiatives in the initial teacher preparation program. The findings are twofold. First, we find that Singapore has extensively performed a comparative review of global 21st century recommendations over four decades to customize an education system for their local context. Second, by synthesizing information sourced from interviews, government documents, and quantitative data, we find that the progress towards developing a cadre of 21st century teachers and producing holistic students in Singapore is largely successful. However, students are found to be at the receiving end of a generational cultural clash between them and their parents’ beliefs about the core of education.